The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawks had advanced to the regional playoffs, but got no further as they lost in the first round to Central Lee 5-15, 4-15, 11-15 last Thursday at Donnellson.

Mid-Prairie coach Bob Barrick reported that the Hawks allowed Central Lee to score several long strings of points which put his team in a hole in all three games. Uncharacteristic errors and curious ball handling calls by the officials aided Central Lee and kept the Hawks from digging themselves out.

The Hawks did come alive in the third game after falling behind 11-3. The defense made some good passes to the setter Kelley and the hitters began to solve the Central Lee defense. Barrick said it turned out to be “too little, too late” but the Golden Hawks season ended with the team playing good volleyball.

Mid-Prairie also has an uncharacteristically poor night serving, successfully completing only 81 percent of their served. Jill Kelley and Hannah Berg did serve perfectly for the match, each going 12-for-12. Sarah Larsen led the team in kills with eight while Berg and B.J. Duwa each collected six. Duwa also recorded 14 digs while Kelley had 15 digs and 19 assists.

“Our biggest problem seemed to be big game jitters,” Barrick said. “The Hawks were trying too hard and that led to errors.”